Weekly crime prevention report: 523 people arrested in FS

The Free State police have arrested 523 people for various crimes during their weekly crime prevention operations which took place on 11-18 June.

According to the police report, the arrested individuals were nabbed for various crimes raging from property-related crimes to contact crimes and other offences.

Arrests were effected as follows: 83 people arrested for assault with intention to cause bodily harm; 47 for common assault; and five for house robbery whilst one was arrested for business robbery.

In an attempt to eradicate dangerous and prevalent weapons in the province, often used for murder, the police arrested 29 people for possession of these weapons and seized these items.

“Furthermore, three other suspects were arrested for murder and seven for attempted murder,” informed captain Loraine Earle.

As part of ensuring good livelihood of the citizens, the police visited 225 licenced liquor outlets for compliance inspections. Thwy then continued to visit 777 farms to ensure labour law compliance. This helped increase police visibility in rural areas. A total of 92 spaza shops received visits from the men and women in blue to ensure labour law compliance.

“During visits to 34 second-hand dealers, the police issued five notices,” said Earle.

In the fight against the social ills of drug-related crimes, a number of operations were conducted throughout the province. These operataions led to the arrests of 50 people for drug-related crimes, and 34 more for driving under the influence of alcohol.

When it comes to illegal immigrants and wanted suspects, the police arrested 45 and 27 respectively.

During this crime prevention week, the police searched 172 premises; 4497 persons and 1773 vehicles through roadblocks and normal routine crime prevention operations.